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This Instrcutable was made to show how to install an internal USB Bluetooth module into almost any laptop. I say almost any because the process should be similar, but I do not have experience with any laptop other than my own (Acer Travelmate 4400). As far as I have been able to gather from scrounging the internet for a couple of months, almost all laptops with the option of internal bluetooth use the USB standard to interface with the modules. I will show you how to wire a regular USB Bluetooth dongle into the connector (sort of) for the factory module. This is useful for folks like me, who figured they didn't need to spend another $80+ for a wireless protocol they had no use for ( /foot in mouth), or for people who's internal module quit on them after warranty. I did this with things I already had, so it was $0 for me, but I will try to remember what I paid for everything and list part numbers, if possible.
P.S. : It seems standard protocol to point out that this is my first Instructable, with hopefully more to come. So be nice.
P.P.S. : Disclaimer: I, Tyler Glenn, accept no responsibility for any damages to equipment, persons, or other property, that result from your attempt to try this. I know it is hard to come by for some people on the internet, but use some common freakin' sense. If you think that this is far far out of the scope of your technical ability, don't try it, it probably is.
P.P.P.S. : Do not take above disclaimer as me discouraging you from trying this, but don't blame me if you screw it up. Please.
P.S. : It seems standard protocol to point out that this is my first Instructable, with hopefully more to come. So be nice.
P.P.S. : Disclaimer: I, Tyler Glenn, accept no responsibility for any damages to equipment, persons, or other property, that result from your attempt to try this. I know it is hard to come by for some people on the internet, but use some common freakin' sense. If you think that this is far far out of the scope of your technical ability, don't try it, it probably is.
P.P.P.S. : Do not take above disclaimer as me discouraging you from trying this, but don't blame me if you screw it up. Please.
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Signing UpStep 1Materials Needed
First things first:
Materials:
- A laptop with a factory option for internal Bluetooth. For this guide I will be specific with instructions for the Acer Travelmate 4400. (As far as I can tell this also applies to the Aspire 5020. They appear to share a chassis/mobo. Price: $400+ (I assume you have one if you want to try this)
- A USB Bluetooth dongle. To make it easy on yourself, I'd recommend trying to find the smallest one you can. I used a Kensington Micro Bluetooth USB adapter from Best Buy. Price: ~$40+/-
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8643863&st=kensington+bluetooth&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1195597773282
- A USB extension cable. 1.1 is sufficient because the Bluetooth standard can't currently transmit faster than 3.0 Mbps. (for those that don't know, USB 1.1 should be capable of ~12Mbps). I got my cable from a dollar store for, you guessed it, $1. Cost/availability may vary. Price:$1+
- Solder, wire, etc. I had this laying around. If you're inclined to try this project, you probably do too. If not, Radioshack or a Local hardware store should have some. Price: ~$5 a spool of wire/solder. (Should be cheaper, but that's my upper limit of spending.)
Tools:
- Soldering Iron. For soldering (duh). Expect to pay about $18 for a basic starter kit. (Probably should come with some solder too. If you're good enough, you won't need any more than what comes with it. try and get one with a very small tip, we're going to be soldering in very tight quarters. I also, wouldn't exceed ~20 watts probably. This is a delicate board we're working on. I'd recommend a station with adjustable heat. I don't have one. But if this is what you do, get a good one.
- Screwdrivers, or a screwdriver with multiple bits. Got my Kronus at Radioshack. Do yourself a favor and get a good set. It'll come in handy all the time. ~$20?
- Pliers, Dikes, Pocket Knife. Same as screwdrivers, get a good set of tools, or you'll regret it.
Price: ~$20? (For the Immature, Dikes are what I grew up calling Wire Cutters or Diagonal Cutters.)
- Continuity tester. Not necessary if you're good. I use it for peace of mind. Helpful regardless. I left mine at my grandparent's house, and didn't feel like going to get it. So I made one out of an LED, wire, and a CMOS battery :P.
- Dishes. Useful for pudding. Also useful for sorting screws so you don't lose any.
Not Pictured:
- Safety Gear. You might be inclined to wear eye protection, unless you don't care if you go blind by a soldering iron to the eye. Gloves might be useful if you're unsure about burning yourself.
- First Aid kit. Just in case. (BTW, Honey is better for treating burns than ointment. Wash burn with cold water, and apply honey on gauze and bandage as normal. Not recommended for severe burns, i.e. with blisters.)
- Nerves of steel, and a bit of insanity. You're going to be opening up and modifying an expensive piece of equipment. Think about this one. Chances are if you have the type of income to be buying 20 laptops to modify, you either do this professionally, or you have people to do this for you.
- Will. Patience. Don't give up!
Materials:
- A laptop with a factory option for internal Bluetooth. For this guide I will be specific with instructions for the Acer Travelmate 4400. (As far as I can tell this also applies to the Aspire 5020. They appear to share a chassis/mobo. Price: $400+ (I assume you have one if you want to try this)
- A USB Bluetooth dongle. To make it easy on yourself, I'd recommend trying to find the smallest one you can. I used a Kensington Micro Bluetooth USB adapter from Best Buy. Price: ~$40+/-
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8643863&st=kensington+bluetooth&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1195597773282
- A USB extension cable. 1.1 is sufficient because the Bluetooth standard can't currently transmit faster than 3.0 Mbps. (for those that don't know, USB 1.1 should be capable of ~12Mbps). I got my cable from a dollar store for, you guessed it, $1. Cost/availability may vary. Price:$1+
- Solder, wire, etc. I had this laying around. If you're inclined to try this project, you probably do too. If not, Radioshack or a Local hardware store should have some. Price: ~$5 a spool of wire/solder. (Should be cheaper, but that's my upper limit of spending.)
Tools:
- Soldering Iron. For soldering (duh). Expect to pay about $18 for a basic starter kit. (Probably should come with some solder too. If you're good enough, you won't need any more than what comes with it. try and get one with a very small tip, we're going to be soldering in very tight quarters. I also, wouldn't exceed ~20 watts probably. This is a delicate board we're working on. I'd recommend a station with adjustable heat. I don't have one. But if this is what you do, get a good one.
- Screwdrivers, or a screwdriver with multiple bits. Got my Kronus at Radioshack. Do yourself a favor and get a good set. It'll come in handy all the time. ~$20?
- Pliers, Dikes, Pocket Knife. Same as screwdrivers, get a good set of tools, or you'll regret it.
Price: ~$20? (For the Immature, Dikes are what I grew up calling Wire Cutters or Diagonal Cutters.)
- Continuity tester. Not necessary if you're good. I use it for peace of mind. Helpful regardless. I left mine at my grandparent's house, and didn't feel like going to get it. So I made one out of an LED, wire, and a CMOS battery :P.
- Dishes. Useful for pudding. Also useful for sorting screws so you don't lose any.
Not Pictured:
- Safety Gear. You might be inclined to wear eye protection, unless you don't care if you go blind by a soldering iron to the eye. Gloves might be useful if you're unsure about burning yourself.
- First Aid kit. Just in case. (BTW, Honey is better for treating burns than ointment. Wash burn with cold water, and apply honey on gauze and bandage as normal. Not recommended for severe burns, i.e. with blisters.)
- Nerves of steel, and a bit of insanity. You're going to be opening up and modifying an expensive piece of equipment. Think about this one. Chances are if you have the type of income to be buying 20 laptops to modify, you either do this professionally, or you have people to do this for you.
- Will. Patience. Don't give up!
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You lay the wicking braid on your bad solder job, apply the tip of your soldering iron, and roll, or pull the braid along (and keep the tip steady on the bad solder job), and you will see the solder come off the pins and the wire, and it will collect onto the braid. I love wicking braids but, thankfully, most of my solder jobs are okay on the first attempt, so I do not often have to use a wicking braid. :)
It also, it helps, whenever possible, to use "heat sinks" - little clamps that absorb the heat and they prevent the plastic and insulation from melting, thus letting 'only' the wire and the solder have the effects of the heat.
Do not touch the soldered joint until after about 2 or more minutes of cooling - else you end up with 'bad solder joint' - called a "cold joint," which may have intermittent, or no, electrical connectivity.
You can quickly/easily test solder joints with any Multimeter (multipurpose electrical meter - very inexpensive - pick them up for $12 at Radio Shack). Put it on the Ohms reading, at the lowest setting - then put the tips of the probes at either end of your soldered connection(s) - look for the needle to go almost all the way to Zero Ohms - meaning 'no resistance' aka 'good connection.' Test ALL pins that you've soldered, to make sure they are ok.
These tips brought to you by me, a Former US Marine, with 30 years of soldering experience.
2) Bluetooth lets you easily/seamlessly Copy & Delete pics to/from your phone - MUCH easier than most phone interfaces! And by copy/delete, I mean you can send pictures via Bluetooth to/from your phone & pc. So, when I want to empty my phone's pic card, I connect from my laptop to my phone via Bluetooth and send all pics to the laptop, then delet them from the phone. It's easier to organize and sort/keep the ones you want and trash the ones you don't with Bluetooth; otherwise, with the phone's kludgy interface, it sucks and takes for-freaking-ever!
3) You can SKYPE via your laptop through your Bluetooth headset (I HATE wires!)
4) You can Bluetooth connect 2 computers and easily share files, WITHOUT having to go through a wireless (or wired) router/Hub/Switch and without transferring files via USB drive and without wires (did I say, I HATE wires!)
5) Ditto - Bluetooth connect 2 computers and share a printer
6) Ditto - Bluetooth connect computer directly to some printers
7) Ditto - Bluetooth connect 2 computers and play games
Granted, Bluetooth is a spec for devices being within 30 feet of each other, but this is only a small list - go look and you will see more and more apps and things that Bluetooth can be used for - one is turning your laptop (or phone) into a "Bluetooth remote control" for your TV. Another is swapping vcards or 'e-business-cards' via bluetooth. Did you know that some appliances are now coming with Bluetooth interface - Fridge, TV, Toaster, Coffee-Maker. Maybe one day I can reboot my fridge via Bluetooth. Would be nice to push a "Make coffee" button and have the coffee-maker start cranking some joe.
This is another good one to type into Google: "which appliances have bluetooth" - and look at the first few links - some appliances already have it. I imagine Bluetooth remotes may eventually replace IR remotes for TV's.
Try Google - and put in "What can i do with Bluetooth?" Above is just some of the stuff I do with it. Cheers! It's all good.
I got the pinout information here:
Pinout
but it's not very helpful for much else. Another forum I read led me to the conclusion that almost every laptop uses the same style connection i.e. a usb with a proprietary connector.
Thanks for the praise.
TBuns